Getting an interview with the publisher of the scandal rag they had been reading turned out to be easier than they had expected. He was expecting them.

"Figured you might stop by." The publisher in question was a big man, as tall as Zero and quite a bit wider. His hair was pale, almost colorless and cut into an unflattering buzz cut. His eyes were an equally colorless blue, and he was dressed in office casual. Just as well, in X's opinion. Putting him in a suit would have made him look like a gorilla dressing up. "It would be about that article on you, and the pictures?" It was hardly a question, but they answered anyway.

"Yes," Zero said, leaning forward. "Who are those guys? And where did you photograph them?" The publisher shrugged, and drew out a folder of photos.

"Who? Your guess is as good as mine. The tourists swear half the Hunter HQ is having a holiday in Hawaii, and I sent a few of my own reporters to confirm it. My own reporter estimated there was maybe a hundred and twenty of 'em. It wasn't easy to count." That wasn't nearly the whole HQ, but it was a sizeable fraction. X frowned, and opened the folder to look at the pictures.

He could see why some of them hadn't made it to the newspaper. They had obviously been taken by someone who had scant respect for privacy laws. There were only two sets of those, though. X winced as he looked away from the first set. He'd always known Gate was gay, but he really didn't want to look at the evidence.

The other set, though, was…

"Holy- gimme that!" Zero snatched away one of the photographs. "Damn, I can't believe I missed this… Hey, look at that one, you're in it!" X blushed a flaming red as he saw the damning evidence. Apparently, he and Zero had participated in an orgy with no less than three women. Worse yet, they both seemed to be bisexual. X shuddered as he thought about what would happen if these photos hit the general public. "Decadent" was the kindest word he could think of to describe it.

"I can't believe I missed all this. Damn. I'm going to Hawaii…" Zero mumbled to himself as he looked over all the photographs. X ignored him, focusing a glare on the publisher.

"You aren't thinking of publishing them, are you?" he said suspiciously. The publisher shook his head.

"No way. Those photos are illegal, and besides, this isn't a porno rag. You can have 'em. The negatives are in the red bag." X picked up a little red paper bag. There was a black bag too, but he assumed that held the non-dirty photos. "And they're staying at the Hyatt Regency, on Maui. Rented almost a hundred rooms for a month with an option to extend the stay for another month, according to the staff." X blanched at the thought of how much such a thing would cost. Then he looked down at the pictures, and frowned, mentally adding the cost for fishing trips, volcano tours, water skiing… Then he shook his head. They had the information they needed and a bit extra.

"Thank you for seeing us." X said politely, gathering up the pornographic photos and picking up the red packet. The publisher waved his thanks away.

"It's nothing. Always willing to help out the Hunters." X smiled politely, shook his hand, and started out. Trying hard to ignore Zero, who had stolen a photo and was making some remarks about the positions involved.

This was going to be a long trip.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii…

The Hunters were not the only ones interested in the strange reports coming from Maui. And someone had been dispatched to investigate. Unfortunately, the Hunters of the other world were a bit out of practice. Physically, their skills were excellent, honed by countless police actions and minor outbursts of Maverick activity. But it had been a long time since they had faced Sigma, and longer since they had really had to worry about security.

That was about to cost one person a bit of pain.

Dynamo was bored as he walked through the palm trees. Extremely bored. He'd swum, played water polo, even dozed off on the beach. He'd visited a casino and blown a bit of his savings. Now it was evening and he couldn't think of a thing to do. Iris had gone off on a field trip to a Hawaiian history museum. Most of the Hunters were about as interested in history and culture as they in the methods of producing yogurt (which was where they got most of their culture) but a group of almost thirty had gone along anyway. Dynamo was beginning to wish he'd joined them. At least then he could have flirted with Iris, or if that failed, an attractive tour guide. Although he would have had to put on more clothes for that… right now, he was wearing shorts and nothing else.

He finally settled down in the shade of a palm tree. The grass was soft and the ground was nice and flat. Maybe he'd just catch a few z's here, until Iris got back. Yeah, that was the ticket. Then he could see if she was up for supper and bar hopping. He didn't love her, or at least he didn't think so, but he certainly liked her more than most of the girls he'd dated. She was sweet but had an edge. Sort of like one of those gumballs he'd had once, the ones with the sweet outside and the red-hot center.

"Heh, that's a better description of her in the bedroom…" The blue haired mercenary daydreamed about that for a while, then slipped into a light doze. A doze that the unexpected sound of metal on metal shattered.

Dynamo sat bolt upright instantly, but that turned out to be very counterproductive. Instead of a boot to the chest to hold him down, he took it to the head.

When the world stopped revolving, he became aware of a foot on his chest and a very familiar face looking down at him. He saw it in the mirror every day. And his double was looking pissed.

Dynamo could guess why. The thought running through his mind would not be "alternate world doubles hey interesting," it'd be more along the lines of, "who the hell copied me those bastards." He'd be pissed off too, if someone tried to imitate his glory. But unlike his double, he knew they were both the real deal.

"Let me guess. You had a date with Sigma and he stood you up." Dynamo asked idly, risking another kick to the head. Which landed hard. "Ow!" Three more Mavericks came up behind his double. Shit. If he could just get away for a moment and call up his armor, he'd have a fighting chance. To get his ass kicked, but it was better than lying down and taking it. And running like hell was always an option.

"Let me guess. You're retarded," his double said pleasantly. "Now, how about you tell us who made you and what you're doing here with X and his merry crew?" Dynamo smiled back just as pleasantly.

"How about I spit in your face?" Dynamo didn't really have much loyalty to the Hunters, but he knew himself, and he doubted his life would be worth a used Kleenex once his double got the information he wanted. Dynamo inched one of his hands down, towards the pockets in his shorts.

Iris had a bit of a paranoid streak, with a hefty amount of caring thrown in to make a person guilty. For a while, he'd wondered how she was finding him all the time. Then he'd found her "love bug" and had been somewhere between amused and appalled. After a confrontation about it, they'd agreed not to plant homing devices on each other. But he had a larger version that he kept on him most of the time, just in case she needed him for something. Or he needed her.

Now looked like a really good time for a big, fat SOS. One of the Mavericks kicked him in the stomach, and as he curled up in pain he grabbed the bug and squeezed it, hard.

No one would detect the signal but Iris.

Elsewhere…

"Ohh, this is interesting." Iris chewed on her thumb as she read a plaque. The display case contained several native Hawaiian artifacts. The information on the plaque was very interesting and included a lot of information about the Hawaiian gods and goddesses. Colonel was looking at ancient weapons and remarking on the sharp edge of the obsidian spears to another Hunter.

Iris shrieked, making everyone jump as feedback hit her.

"Dynamo!" Iris gasped, and immediately co-ordinates flashed through her mind. Dynamo had activated the distress signal, and he was near the beach. She ran to her brother, grabbing his arm. "Colonel! Dynamo's in trouble at-" She quickly rattled off the co-ordinates. Colonel nodded, then shouted for a few members of his team, who ran over quickly. She teleported with them as they left, although they wouldn't need her help very much.

"If you tell me, I'll let you go," The real world Dynamo said reasonably to his duplicate. The alternate version just snorted.

"You're a liiii-ar." He said in a sing-song tone, then grinned. "And… you're de-ead."

"What in hell do you-AUGH!" Colonel and his team burst on the scene in multiple flashes of light and someone blasted the real Dynamo in the back. Soon, the Mavericks were in a battle for their lives. Dynamo jumped to his feet like a spring toy, calling up his armor and tackling his double.

The battle continued until the Mavericks were scrap and Dynamo had fled. That really didn't take very long, although the alternate Dynamo did all he could to keep his double from escaping.

"Damn." He said in disgust, looking at the spot his double had teleported away from. "Am I always so good at running away?" Colonel snorted, and Iris giggled.

"Yes," Colonel said flatly, sheathing his sword. "It's your greatest skill."

"Thanks, I think?" Dynamo frowned, and glanced around for Iris. "Iris, thanks for that love bug. I'd never have made it without it." He was really very grateful. Iris smiled, and walked over, touching his cheek.

"Aw, that's sweet, Dyna-baby." Iris leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek-

"WHAT is going on here?" An affronted voice interrupted them, and everyone turned to see an annoyed Zero and a weirded out X looking at them… and the remains of the Mavericks scattered around.

"Sir!" Colonel saluted them crisply. "Three Mavericks terminated, one selfish bastard escaped."

"Hey!" Dynamo protested, and was silenced by a kiss. "Mrph…"

"Can you two get a room?" Colonel snapped, then blinked as Zero growled. "Sir?"

"Um, who are you?" X asked before Zero could start maiming a certain bounty hunter. There was a shocked silence, and one of the other Repliforce members finally put their thoughts into words.

"Oh, hell! It's this world's X and Zero!"